Black Saturday fire, Australia

• location and background

  • 7 Feb to 14th Mar 2009
  • combination of 400, SE Australia
• Physical factors influencing the fire:

  • The year proceeding they had 3 positive IOD contributing to droughts from 2006 - 2008
  • 2009 was a El - Nino which lead to high pressure around Indonesia and Australia
  • The fire occurred at the end of a summer long intense heat wave and nearly 2 months with little to no rain
• Primary Impacts:

  • 120 people were killed in Kinglane
  • 1.1 million acres of land was burnt
  • 2,000 homes burnt
  • 414 people injured
• Secondary Impacts:

  • By August 2010 $1.2 billion was spent in insurance claims
  • The top 5 dams were contaminated
  • The emotional scars from the fire are still around today
  • The importance of preparation was shown